Setup

Libraries

library("ggplot2")
library("dplyr")
## 
## Attaching package: 'dplyr'
## The following objects are masked from 'package:stats':
## 
##     filter, lag
## The following objects are masked from 'package:base':
## 
##     intersect, setdiff, setequal, union
library("gender")
## PLEASE NOTE: The method provided by this package must be used cautiously
## and responsibly. Please be sure to see the guidelines and warnings about
## usage in the README or the package documentation.
library("geosphere")
library("ggmap")
## Google's Terms of Service: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms/.
## Please cite ggmap if you use it! See citation("ggmap") for details.
library("lubridate")
## 
## Attaching package: 'lubridate'
## The following objects are masked from 'package:base':
## 
##     date, intersect, setdiff, union
library("leaflet")

Import Data

# airbnb <- read.csv("AB_NYC_2019.csv")
airbnb <- read.csv("AB_NYC_2019_Gender.csv")

Explore Data

str(airbnb)
## 'data.frame':    48895 obs. of  18 variables:
##  $ X                             : int  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ...
##  $ id                            : int  2539 2595 3647 3831 5022 5099 5121 5178 5203 5238 ...
##  $ name                          : chr  "Clean & quiet apt home by the park" "Skylit Midtown Castle" "THE VILLAGE OF HARLEM....NEW YORK !" "Cozy Entire Floor of Brownstone" ...
##  $ host_id                       : int  2787 2845 4632 4869 7192 7322 7356 8967 7490 7549 ...
##  $ host_name                     : chr  "John" "Jennifer" "Elisabeth" "LisaRoxanne" ...
##  $ neighbourhood_group           : chr  "Brooklyn" "Manhattan" "Manhattan" "Brooklyn" ...
##  $ neighbourhood                 : chr  "Kensington" "Midtown" "Harlem" "Clinton Hill" ...
##  $ latitude                      : num  40.6 40.8 40.8 40.7 40.8 ...
##  $ longitude                     : num  -74 -74 -73.9 -74 -73.9 ...
##  $ room_type                     : chr  "Private room" "Entire home/apt" "Private room" "Entire home/apt" ...
##  $ price                         : int  149 225 150 89 80 200 60 79 79 150 ...
##  $ minimum_nights                : int  1 1 3 1 10 3 45 2 2 1 ...
##  $ number_of_reviews             : int  9 45 0 270 9 74 49 430 118 160 ...
##  $ last_review                   : chr  "2018-10-19" "2019-05-21" NA "2019-07-05" ...
##  $ reviews_per_month             : num  0.21 0.38 NA 4.64 0.1 0.59 0.4 3.47 0.99 1.33 ...
##  $ calculated_host_listings_count: int  6 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 ...
##  $ availability_365              : int  365 355 365 194 0 129 0 220 0 188 ...
##  $ gender                        : chr  "male" "female" "female" "unknown" ...
head(airbnb)
##   X   id                                             name host_id   host_name
## 1 1 2539               Clean & quiet apt home by the park    2787        John
## 2 2 2595                            Skylit Midtown Castle    2845    Jennifer
## 3 3 3647              THE VILLAGE OF HARLEM....NEW YORK !    4632   Elisabeth
## 4 4 3831                  Cozy Entire Floor of Brownstone    4869 LisaRoxanne
## 5 5 5022 Entire Apt: Spacious Studio/Loft by central park    7192       Laura
## 6 6 5099        Large Cozy 1 BR Apartment In Midtown East    7322       Chris
##   neighbourhood_group neighbourhood latitude longitude       room_type price
## 1            Brooklyn    Kensington 40.64749 -73.97237    Private room   149
## 2           Manhattan       Midtown 40.75362 -73.98377 Entire home/apt   225
## 3           Manhattan        Harlem 40.80902 -73.94190    Private room   150
## 4            Brooklyn  Clinton Hill 40.68514 -73.95976 Entire home/apt    89
## 5           Manhattan   East Harlem 40.79851 -73.94399 Entire home/apt    80
## 6           Manhattan   Murray Hill 40.74767 -73.97500 Entire home/apt   200
##   minimum_nights number_of_reviews last_review reviews_per_month
## 1              1                 9  2018-10-19              0.21
## 2              1                45  2019-05-21              0.38
## 3              3                 0        <NA>                NA
## 4              1               270  2019-07-05              4.64
## 5             10                 9  2018-11-19              0.10
## 6              3                74  2019-06-22              0.59
##   calculated_host_listings_count availability_365  gender
## 1                              6              365    male
## 2                              2              355  female
## 3                              1              365  female
## 4                              1              194 unknown
## 5                              1                0  female
## 6                              1              129    male
tail(airbnb)
##           X       id                                              name
## 48890 48890 36484363                                QUIT PRIVATE HOUSE
## 48891 48891 36484665   Charming one bedroom - newly renovated rowhouse
## 48892 48892 36485057     Affordable room in Bushwick/East Williamsburg
## 48893 48893 36485431           Sunny Studio at Historical Neighborhood
## 48894 48894 36485609              43rd St. Time Square-cozy single bed
## 48895 48895 36487245 Trendy duplex in the very heart of Hell's Kitchen
##         host_id     host_name neighbourhood_group      neighbourhood latitude
## 48890 107716952       Michael              Queens            Jamaica 40.69137
## 48891   8232441       Sabrina            Brooklyn Bedford-Stuyvesant 40.67853
## 48892   6570630       Marisol            Brooklyn           Bushwick 40.70184
## 48893  23492952 Ilgar & Aysel           Manhattan             Harlem 40.81475
## 48894  30985759           Taz           Manhattan     Hell's Kitchen 40.75751
## 48895  68119814    Christophe           Manhattan     Hell's Kitchen 40.76404
##       longitude       room_type price minimum_nights number_of_reviews
## 48890 -73.80844    Private room    65              1                 0
## 48891 -73.94995    Private room    70              2                 0
## 48892 -73.93317    Private room    40              4                 0
## 48893 -73.94867 Entire home/apt   115             10                 0
## 48894 -73.99112     Shared room    55              1                 0
## 48895 -73.98933    Private room    90              7                 0
##       last_review reviews_per_month calculated_host_listings_count
## 48890        <NA>                NA                              2
## 48891        <NA>                NA                              2
## 48892        <NA>                NA                              2
## 48893        <NA>                NA                              1
## 48894        <NA>                NA                              6
## 48895        <NA>                NA                              1
##       availability_365  gender
## 48890              163    male
## 48891                9  female
## 48892               36  female
## 48893               27 unknown
## 48894                2    male
## 48895               23    male
summary(airbnb)
##        X               id               name              host_id         
##  Min.   :    1   Min.   :    2539   Length:48895       Min.   :     2438  
##  1st Qu.:12224   1st Qu.: 9471945   Class :character   1st Qu.:  7822033  
##  Median :24448   Median :19677284   Mode  :character   Median : 30793816  
##  Mean   :24448   Mean   :19017143                      Mean   : 67620011  
##  3rd Qu.:36672   3rd Qu.:29152178                      3rd Qu.:107434423  
##  Max.   :48895   Max.   :36487245                      Max.   :274321313  
##                                                                           
##   host_name         neighbourhood_group neighbourhood         latitude    
##  Length:48895       Length:48895        Length:48895       Min.   :40.50  
##  Class :character   Class :character    Class :character   1st Qu.:40.69  
##  Mode  :character   Mode  :character    Mode  :character   Median :40.72  
##                                                            Mean   :40.73  
##                                                            3rd Qu.:40.76  
##                                                            Max.   :40.91  
##                                                                           
##    longitude       room_type             price         minimum_nights   
##  Min.   :-74.24   Length:48895       Min.   :    0.0   Min.   :   1.00  
##  1st Qu.:-73.98   Class :character   1st Qu.:   69.0   1st Qu.:   1.00  
##  Median :-73.96   Mode  :character   Median :  106.0   Median :   3.00  
##  Mean   :-73.95                      Mean   :  152.7   Mean   :   7.03  
##  3rd Qu.:-73.94                      3rd Qu.:  175.0   3rd Qu.:   5.00  
##  Max.   :-73.71                      Max.   :10000.0   Max.   :1250.00  
##                                                                         
##  number_of_reviews last_review        reviews_per_month
##  Min.   :  0.00    Length:48895       Min.   : 0.010   
##  1st Qu.:  1.00    Class :character   1st Qu.: 0.190   
##  Median :  5.00    Mode  :character   Median : 0.720   
##  Mean   : 23.27                       Mean   : 1.373   
##  3rd Qu.: 24.00                       3rd Qu.: 2.020   
##  Max.   :629.00                       Max.   :58.500   
##                                       NA's   :10052    
##  calculated_host_listings_count availability_365    gender         
##  Min.   :  1.000                Min.   :  0.0    Length:48895      
##  1st Qu.:  1.000                1st Qu.:  0.0    Class :character  
##  Median :  1.000                Median : 45.0    Mode  :character  
##  Mean   :  7.144                Mean   :112.8                      
##  3rd Qu.:  2.000                3rd Qu.:227.0                      
##  Max.   :327.000                Max.   :365.0                      
##

Clean Data

# Create Gender Column (from Piazza)
airbnb$gender <- "unknown"
num <- 1
for (i in airbnb$host_name) {
  if (nrow(gender(i)['gender']) == 0) {
    airbnb$gender[num] <- "unknown"
  }
  else if (nrow(gender(i)['gender'] == 1) & gender(i)['gender'] == "male") {
    airbnb$gender[num] <- "male"
  }
  else if (nrow(gender(i)['gender'] == 1) & gender(i)['gender'] == "female") {
    airbnb$gender[num] <- "female"
  }
  num <- num + 1
}

airbnb$gender

# Write New Data File w/ Gender
write.csv(airbnb, "AB_NYC_2019_Gender.csv")
# Create Description Length Column
airbnb$descLength <- nchar(airbnb$name, type = "chars", allowNA = FALSE, keepNA = NA)

# Create Keywords Column
airbnb$keyword <- "NA"
num <- 1
for (i in airbnb$name) {
  if ((grepl("cozy", i, fixed = TRUE)) || (grepl("Cozy", i, fixed = TRUE))) {
    airbnb$keyword[num] <- "Cozy"
  }
  else if ((grepl("large", i, fixed = TRUE)) || (grepl("Large", i, fixed = TRUE))) {
    airbnb$keyword[num] <- "Large"
  }
  else if ((grepl("cute", i, fixed = TRUE)) || (grepl("Cute", i, fixed = TRUE))) {
    airbnb$keyword[num] <- "Cute"
  }
  else if ((grepl("beautiful", i, fixed = TRUE)) || (grepl("Beautiful", i, fixed = TRUE))) {
    airbnb$keyword[num] <- "Beautiful"
  }
  else if ((grepl("!", i, fixed = TRUE))) {
    airbnb$keyword[num] <- "Exclaimation"
  }
  num <- num + 1
}

# Assign Factors
airbnb$neighbourhood_group <- as.factor(airbnb$neighbourhood_group)
airbnb$neighbourhood <- as.factor(airbnb$neighbourhood)
airbnb$room_type <- as.factor(airbnb$room_type)
airbnb$last_review <- as.Date(airbnb$last_review)
airbnb$gender <- as.factor(airbnb$gender)
airbnb$keyword <- as.factor(airbnb$keyword)
str(airbnb)
## 'data.frame':    48895 obs. of  20 variables:
##  $ X                             : int  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ...
##  $ id                            : int  2539 2595 3647 3831 5022 5099 5121 5178 5203 5238 ...
##  $ name                          : chr  "Clean & quiet apt home by the park" "Skylit Midtown Castle" "THE VILLAGE OF HARLEM....NEW YORK !" "Cozy Entire Floor of Brownstone" ...
##  $ host_id                       : int  2787 2845 4632 4869 7192 7322 7356 8967 7490 7549 ...
##  $ host_name                     : chr  "John" "Jennifer" "Elisabeth" "LisaRoxanne" ...
##  $ neighbourhood_group           : Factor w/ 5 levels "Bronx","Brooklyn",..: 2 3 3 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 ...
##  $ neighbourhood                 : Factor w/ 221 levels "Allerton","Arden Heights",..: 109 128 95 42 62 138 14 96 203 36 ...
##  $ latitude                      : num  40.6 40.8 40.8 40.7 40.8 ...
##  $ longitude                     : num  -74 -74 -73.9 -74 -73.9 ...
##  $ room_type                     : Factor w/ 3 levels "Entire home/apt",..: 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 ...
##  $ price                         : int  149 225 150 89 80 200 60 79 79 150 ...
##  $ minimum_nights                : int  1 1 3 1 10 3 45 2 2 1 ...
##  $ number_of_reviews             : int  9 45 0 270 9 74 49 430 118 160 ...
##  $ last_review                   : Date, format: "2018-10-19" "2019-05-21" ...
##  $ reviews_per_month             : num  0.21 0.38 NA 4.64 0.1 0.59 0.4 3.47 0.99 1.33 ...
##  $ calculated_host_listings_count: int  6 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 ...
##  $ availability_365              : int  365 355 365 194 0 129 0 220 0 188 ...
##  $ gender                        : Factor w/ 3 levels "female","male",..: 2 1 1 3 1 2 2 3 1 2 ...
##  $ descLength                    : int  34 21 35 31 48 41 15 32 34 34 ...
##  $ keyword                       : Factor w/ 6 levels "Beautiful","Cozy",..: 6 6 4 2 6 2 4 5 2 2 ...

Questions

1. Calculate interesting metrics and build pursuasive visualizations that help us get a better understanding of the data. For example:

Does gender of the Host affect the rental price?

genderRates <- tapply(airbnb$price, airbnb$gender, mean, na.rm = TRUE)
barplot(sort(genderRates, decreasing = TRUE), ylab = "Price ($)")

genderAvail <- tapply(airbnb$availability_365, airbnb$gender, mean, na.rm = TRUE)
barplot(sort(genderAvail, decreasing = TRUE), ylab = "Availability (days)")

It seems that on average rental prices are higher for hosts of "unknown" gender (which due to the gender function are often groups of people, such as couples or families). This is closely followed by male hosts, and it seems that female hosts command the lowest rental prices. I assumed that families may charge more due to perception of being safer. However, after comparing the data to availability based on gender, it seems that they are also more available, which I have assumed to mean the listing is booked less. This might indicate that family homes are simply larger and thus more expensive.

How do rental rates differ between different boroughs

neighbourhoodRates <- tapply(airbnb$price, airbnb$neighbourhood_group, mean, na.rm = TRUE)
barplot(sort(neighbourhoodRates, decreasing = TRUE))

The most expensive listings are in Manhatten, and the least expensive listings are in the Bronx.

Are reviews important?

# Total Number of Reviews
ggplot(data = airbnb, aes(x = number_of_reviews, y = price)) + geom_smooth()
## `geom_smooth()` using method = 'gam' and formula 'y ~ s(x, bs = "cs")'

reviews_num_Rates <- tapply(airbnb$price, airbnb$number_of_reviews, mean, na.rm = TRUE)
barplot(reviews_num_Rates)

Surprisingly, it seems that on average more total reviews leads to lower Airbnb rental prices. This could be caused by bad reviews. However, the most expensive Airbnb listings also tend be those with the most reviews. This leads me to believe that reviews are an indicator of the extremes, really good listings and really bad ones, while average ones are less reviewed.
# Reviews per Month
ggplot(data = airbnb, aes(x = reviews_per_month, y = price)) + geom_smooth()
## `geom_smooth()` using method = 'gam' and formula 'y ~ s(x, bs = "cs")'
## Warning: Removed 10052 rows containing non-finite values (stat_smooth).

reviews_rpm_Rates <- tapply(airbnb$price, airbnb$reviews_per_month, mean, na.rm = TRUE)
barplot(reviews_rpm_Rates, ylim = c(0,1000))

Reviews per month seems to follow a similar trend to total reviews at first with more reviews per month actually correlating to lower rental prices. However, at around 30 reviews per month this trend reverses and actually leads to slightly higher rental prices.

Think of other questions that may be relevant and can be answered via exploration and visualization of this data.

# SEE QUESTION 4

2. Use the latitude and longitude information to build map based visualizations that can provide further insights into the data. For example:

Plot 100 most expensive rentals on the map. Do they show a geographic pattern?

register_google(key = "AIzaSyDr6TG5wIRo6iXXvRbE0rV3n2EPx1jApRc", write = TRUE)
## Replacing old key (AIzaSyDr6TG5wIRo6iXXvRbE0rV3n2EPx1jApRc) with new key in /Users/brianzhao/.Renviron
# Get Rental Info by Price
airbnb_stays <- airbnb %>%
  group_by(id) %>%
  summarise(lat = as.numeric(latitude),
            long = as.numeric(longitude),
            name = name,
            rental_price = price,
            availability = availability_365)
## `summarise()` ungrouping output (override with `.groups` argument)
# Sort by Price
airbnb_stays <- airbnb_stays[order(airbnb_stays$rental_price, decreasing = TRUE),]

# Select 100 Most Expensive Rentals
airbnb_stays <- head(airbnb_stays, n = 100)

# Get Map and Plot Rental Locations
nyc_map <- get_map(location = 'New York City, New York', 
                       maptype ='roadmap', color='bw', source='google', zoom=11)
## Source : https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/staticmap?center=New%20York%20City,%20New%20York&zoom=11&size=640x640&scale=2&maptype=roadmap&language=en-EN&key=xxx
## Source : https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=New+York+City,+New+York&key=xxx
# Plot Map - ggmap

## Price
ggmap(nyc_map) + 
  geom_point(data=airbnb_stays, aes(x=long, y=lat, color=rental_price), size=1, alpha=0.5) +
  scale_colour_gradient(high= "red", low= 'green') + 
  theme(axis.ticks = element_blank(), axis.text = element_blank()) +
  xlab('') + ylab('')
## Warning: Removed 2 rows containing missing values (geom_point).

## Availability
ggmap(nyc_map) + 
  geom_point(data=airbnb_stays, aes(x=long, y=lat, color=availability), size=1, alpha=0.5) +
  scale_colour_gradient(high= "red", low= 'green') + 
  theme(axis.ticks = element_blank(), axis.text = element_blank()) +
  xlab('') + ylab('')
## Warning: Removed 2 rows containing missing values (geom_point).

# Plot Map - leaflet
leaflet(airbnb_stays) %>%
  addTiles() %>%
  addMarkers(popup = paste("Name:", airbnb_stays$name, "<br>", "ID:", airbnb_stays$id, "<br>", "Price: $", airbnb_stays$rental_price)) %>%
  setView(-73.96, 40.75, zoom = 10)
## Assuming "long" and "lat" are longitude and latitude, respectively
It seems that the map reveals what we would expect based on our previous analyses. The most expensive rentals are as we expected primarily in Manhatten and some are in Brooklyn. Some patterns I recognized are that the most expensive listings seem to be clustered around geographical landmarks such as near Central Park or the water/beaches. I also plotted the availablity of these stays and most of these are very available (300+ days), and based on analysis I performed on availability, this makes sense as more expensive listings were generally more available.

NOTE: ggmap and leaflet maps are provided to demonstrate/practice both methods, but the data is the same.

3. Does the description of the rental impact its price?

Length of description?

ggplot(data = airbnb, aes(x = descLength, y = price)) + geom_smooth()
## `geom_smooth()` using method = 'gam' and formula 'y ~ s(x, bs = "cs")'

It seems that the optimal description length to charge the highest rental prices is around 100 characters. Longer and shorter descriptions generally command lower rental prices. However, another explaination is that more experienced and serious hosts will choose a descriptive yet concise description or listing name, and this happens to fall around 100 characters.

Specific keywords?

keywordRates <- tapply(airbnb$price, airbnb$keyword, mean, na.rm = TRUE)
par(mar=c(6,4,2,2))
barplot(sort(keywordRates, decreasing = TRUE), las=2)

After looking through the data, I identified some common keywords: Beautiful, Large, Cute, Cozy, and the usage of exclaimation points. It seems that using the keyword "beautiful" and adding exclaimation marks in the description of the listing can lead to a higher rental price. Other popular keywords include "cozy," "cute," and "large," but these keywords seem to actually command a lower rental price than those without any of the keywords. It is possible that using these buzzwords could turn off some renters.

4. Any other interesting and insightful analysis that you may want to conduct.

Is a entire (1) home/apt, (2) private room, (3) shared room cheaper?

roomtypeRates <- tapply(airbnb$price, airbnb$room_type, mean, na.rm = TRUE)
barplot(roomtypeRates)

Entire homes/apartments are much more expensive at an average of 211.7942461 dollars compared to private rooms (89.7809729 dollars) and shared rooms (70.1275862 dollars)

What is the most common room type?

# numEntire <- nrow(airbnb[airbnb$room_type == "Entire home/apt", ])
# numPrivate <- nrow(airbnb[airbnb$room_type == "Private room", ])
# numShared <- nrow(airbnb[airbnb$room_type == "Shared room", ])
ggplot(data = airbnb, aes(x=room_type)) + geom_bar()

Most listings on Airbnb are for entire homes/apts. This is closely followed by private rooms, and shared rooms are by far the least common in NYC.

What is the most common type of stay in each borough?

ggplot(data = airbnb, aes(x=neighbourhood_group, colour = room_type)) + geom_bar()

As we can see most listings are located in Manhattan (#1) and Brooklyn (#2) with the other boroughs being significantly less common rental locations. Although the most common type of stay in Manhatten is entire homes/apts. Private rooms become a much more common option in the other 4 boroughs. This could be due to the fact that in the other boroughs space is very limited and its is more difficult to offer an entire space. Also, based on the previous graph, we know that Manhattan is likely skewing the data slightly.

How does availability of a rental affect its price?

ggplot(data = airbnb, aes(x = availability_365, y = price)) + geom_smooth()
## `geom_smooth()` using method = 'gam' and formula 'y ~ s(x, bs = "cs")'

availabilityRates <- tapply(airbnb$price, airbnb$availability_365, mean, na.rm = TRUE)
barplot(availabilityRates)

Assumption: Availability is 365 days and for simplicity will assume days that are not available are booked

As expected, listings that are available for a larger percentage of the year are able to charge higher rental prices because they offer renters more flexibility. However, there is a curious dip around 325/365 days a year. This could be because their lack of availablity is centered around holidays or popular travel times, where the Airbnb owner uses the property themselves instead of renting. Another explaination could be that, more expensive rentals are more availablity because their prices are high and less renters can afford them. However, low availability can not be explained in the same manner as the host may just list it for less days.